Desk attachment



MayvZS, 1945 LJ. w. PAxroN ETAL 2,401,182

DESK ATTACHMENT Filed Jan. 22, 1942 operatingposition; and

Patented May 28, 1946 i DESK ATTACHMENT John Warren Paxton, Bloomington,and Irving Richard Cornish, Elmhurst, Ill.

Application January 22, 1942, Serial No. 427,780

6 Claims. (Cl. 311-17) v when in place, its inner end I6 extendshorizon- Our invention relates to improvements in desk attachments andrelates particularly to means for utilizing an ordinary oiiice desk as asupport for an appliance such as a typewriter, calculating machine,dictaphone, etc., at a height which is convenient for the operator. j

The purpose of the invention is to provide an improved arrangement ofthe character mentioned, which canV be nattached or applied to anordinary oiiiceV desk without any need to employ moval of the topdrawer.

a skilled mechanic in order to make the applica,-

tion. A 'furtherobject is to provide convenient and eflcientmeans f orsafely and securely clamp-` ing the attachment" to the desk in suchmanner that strain or vibration caused by the weight or by the operationof the fappliancewill not affect 'thestability or rigidity' of thesupport, or` the appliance which is Supported thereby.

In the drawingaccompanying this application, and which shows certain'preferred embodiments of Athe invention: 7

Fig."1'is a fragmentary 'perspective view of an ordinary office desk towhich'th'e improved attachment hasbeen applied;

' Fig. 2 is a shortened plan view of the attachmentjtself; f

Fig. a is a frontl elevation of the attachment; Fig. 4 isA a `verticalsection taken through the lappliance and a portion of the desk towhichit is being applied, showing the manner in which the parts are arrangedat the l beginning ofthe actof applicatiomi v l5 is a section similar toFig. 4," showing the parts in the position which'they occupy after theattachmenthas been securely locked" in its Fig. "6 isa section taken onthe line 6-5 of Fig. 2. j u

4Referring to the drawing, it will be seen that the( desk designated asajwhole. I0is of the conventional type having" the usual side pedestalII withV accommodation for three drawers. The twolower drawers I2, andI3 are Vno1-affected by the` application of the attachment and Vmay beused in the usual way when the attachment is in place; The same thing istrue of the-writing slide I4.. C i ln "Preferably, the main shelf orsupporting element is madev inthe form of asingle horizontally arranged"board, preferablyof` the same width as d the top drawer which, in orderto permit the ap'- plication of the attachment, vshould be removed fromthe desk. This boardmember I5 is made long enough toextend forwardly asufIicientdistanito rrvridethe, necessary shelrroom and.

tally inwardly into the recess formed by the re- It will be observedthat the entrance to the drawer opening, as is usual in desks of woodenconstruction,V is rectangular, the vertical sides of the entrance towhich opening are formed by the posts Il and I8 ofthe pedestal, whiletheupper and lower sides of the drawer entrance opening take the form ofhorizontal rectangular wooden bars I9 and 20 located at the top andbottom of the entrance opening respectively.`

The rear faces 2IA and 22 and the` front faces 23 and 24 of said framebars I9 and 20 serve as abutments which are engaged by cooperatingshoulders on parts carried Aby the shelf member l5 and adapted to bedrawntogether so that. the bars I9 and 20 will be clamped respectivelybetween upper and lower pairs of said clamping parts.

The clamping parts which carry the shoulders referred to preferably takethe form odf` a pair of fixed members and a pair of relatively movablemembers. The xed members in the present instance `comprise ahorizontallyl extending wooden bar or slat 25 extending across the topof the shelf member I5 and a somewhatdeeper or wider'slat or board 26located on the under side of the shelf member I5,vand preferablyextending immediately below the upper slat 25. The combined width of theslats 25 and 26 and the thickness of the shelf member I5 is in excess ofthe vertical dimension of the entrance to the drawer opening, so that,`when the attachment is in place, the upper Slat 25 will have a shoulder21 which contacts with the abutment 23, and the lower edge of the slat26 will have a shoulder 28 which will at the same time contact withthefront abutment 24 of the lower cross bar 20. Said slats 25 and 26 may beconveniently secured to theshelf member I5 by long clamping bolts, forexample 29, vextending vertically through all three ofthe aforementionedelements, as indicated best in Figs. 4 and 5. The nuts 30 of said boltsare preferably'- seated in square apertures inthe bottom edge of themember 26, so that the said bolts may be tightened conveniently; 1

In order to strengthen the shelf structure as a whole, thesides of theattachment are reinforced or braced by means of wooden angle bracketmembers 3| and 32 glued to the under side of the shelf mem-ber I5 and tothe front face of the slat 26., If desired, wooden screws suchwa's`shown at 33WA may also be employed to clamping bar 34.

cessed into the rear face of the clamping bar 34, as shown at 36. Thisenables the screw to be conveniently operated from the frontl of 'thestructure whenever it is desired toY 'draw the clamping bar 34outwardly.

Vertically below the L-shaped clamping mem-` ber 34, there is located asimilarly shaped lower clampingbar 31, in this case, however, reversedor turned upside clown as compared with the Thisy clamping bar 31 isequipped with clamping screws and bolts 38 Similarto the clamping screws35, but the front portionsof said screws are arranged to slide in slots39 so as to. enable the bar 31 and` its associated clamping screws 38tov be moved vertically relative to the lower slat 26 of the shelfstructure. This is to enable the bar 31 to be temporarily moved upwardlyinto inoperative position, as shown in Fig. 4, in order to permit the'structure t-o be installed in its proper position.

It will be observed that, in theposition shown in Fig. 4, the totalvertical distance between the upperand lower edgesrespectively of theclamping bars 34and 31 is `somewhat Vless than the verticaldimension ofthe entrance to the drawer opening, so that the inner extension I6 andits associated clamping bars can be inserted through the rectangularentrance to the drawer opening. ftersaid insertionhas .beenveffected thelentire `str'ucturefis then. moved upwardly' so that the', shoulder .21is in engagement with the abutment23 on the yfront of the top cross bar-I9, and f thellower shoulder 28 ofA slat 26 is in engagement Wthrnthefront abutment 24' of the lower cross 4bar 23. In this position, the.yupper flange of. thetop clamp bar34 overlaps the rear face or abutment2`I of bar I9 and, Iwhen the bolt 35 is tightened, the said .rearabutment 2| is engaged bythe front face or shoulder 40 ofkclamping bar34. After the bolts 35 have been properly tightened, as shown in Fig. 5,the lower clamping barn 31 is slid downwardly until the rear face orabutment 22 of thevlower cross bar 20 is overlapped by the lowerdepending ange of the clamping bar 31, kand the clamping bolts 38 arethentightened so as to draw the shoulder 42 of 'said clamping bar 31into Vengagement with.

the rear face or abutment v22 of the lower cross barZr.

:In view of the fact that the pull or force applied to the `cross bars34 and 31 is offset relative'to the line of contact between the clamp,

ing parts and the bars respectively, it'is advisable 't'o provide guidesfor preventing any rocking tendency of the clamp bars and to compel themto move horizontally under the influence of the clamping bolts. In thecase of the upper slat 43, which takes the form of ahori'zontal barwhich is capable of beingl clamped in any desired vertical position onthe back of the slat 2E by means of horizontal clamping bolts 44 whichextend through the guide slat 43 from the front of the structure andthrough the slots 39 previously referred to. It is manifest that, whenthe structure is being secured in position, before tightening the bolts44, the slat 43 is slid downwardly until its lower face is incontactrwith the upper face of the clamping bar 31. Then the bolts 44are tightened, so that, when the iinal clamping of the lower clampingbolts 4I is effected, the bar 31 will be properly supported and guided,andr any improper rocking movement thereof will be prevented.

If desired, the L-bars 34 and 31, which are subjected to considerablestress by the clamping bolts, may be reinforced in any suitable manner,for example by rivets 45 (see Fig. 6).

In vieul of the fact that the described arrangement may be modifiedv invarious ways to Suit individual 4taste or diiTerent conditions, thescope of the invention should be determined by reference to the appendedclaims.

We claim:- 1 l Y 1. A desk attachment comprising a shelf having a pairof normally stationary, vertically spaced, upper and lower shoulders,and upper and lower clamping Amembers. spaced from said upper rof*vclamping members respectively engageable with said -inwardlyfacingabutments, and means horizontally adjustably` connecting said clampingmembers respectivelywith said shoulders and operative to effect.adjustments of ksaid clamping members toward vsaid shoulders to therebydraw the -1att`er-into shelf supporting engagement with said loutwardlyfacing abutments.

L3. A shelf attachment for a desk `having a draweropening, two `oppositesides. of .the entrance to which opening are each provided' with aninwardlyfacing vabutment and an outwardly facing abutment, theattachment comprising a normally horizontal Vmember having upwardlyanddownwardly extending shoulders respectively-engageable with saidoutwardly facing abutments, a pair of clampingmembers respectivelyengageabl'e with said inwardly lfacing iabutln'ents,y and meanshorizontally adiustablyj connecting said' Vclamping members respectivelywith `said shoulders and operative to Veffect adjustments of saidclamping members toward 'said shoulders tothereby draw thelatter into4shelf supporting engagement with said outwardly facing abutments, oneof said clamping members `being also vertically adjustablyV mounted onits cooperating shoulder to permit vertical movement/of said clampingmember into .cooperative relationship 'to one of said inwardly facingabutments after horizontal Apassage of the .clamping members' throughthe entrance to said-draweropenng... Y

` 44. A. device 4for use on a desk having a drawer spacelwith' amember.extending across the top of the entrance tothe space, the deviceincluding a supporting board having an end portion of reduced widthforming a tongue which is adapted to be inserted into said entrance, apart on the under side of the tongue for resting on the lower wall ofthe entrance, a part on the upper side of the tongue engageable with theunder side of said member in said entrance, the tongue and said partsserving to occupy said entrance and to aid in supporting the board, anda latch block on the upper side of the tongue for engaging the rear sideof the member to latch the Vboard in place.

5. A device for use on a desk having a drawer space with a memberextending across the top of the entrance to the space, the deviceincluding a supporting board having a tongue of reduced width adapted tobe inserted into said entrance,

`a transversely disposed strip on the upper side of the tongue adaptedto engage in the entrance of said space and bear upwardly against theunder side of said member, a transversely disposed strip 20 on the underside of the tongue adapted to engage in the entrance of said space andrest on the lower wall of the entrance, and one or more latch blocks onthe upper side of the tongue for cooperating yspaced hook membersmounted on said shelf member, one of said hook members being mounted soas`to be movable away from the other after insertion into said opening,thereby to enable said hook members to be respectively engaged with saidinwardly facing aloutmentsl and means for adjusting said shelf memberand said hook members toward each other to thereby clamp the attachmenton said inwardly and outwardly facing abutments.

J OI-IN WARREN PAXTON.

IRVING RICHARD CORNISH.

